Karsten Lunze, MD, MPH, DrPH, FACPM, FAAP
Associate Professor, Medicine

Biography
Karsten Lunze holds a medical degree and doctorates in genetic epidemiology and public health. Following clinical training in pediatrics at Charité Berlin, Germany, and the Johns Hopkins Children’s Center, Baltimore, MD, and in public health/preventive medicine and addiction medicine at BMC, he has conducted research concerned with individual and structural risks affecting disadvantaged populations. His clinical health services research has been devoted to improving the health of women and newborns in resource-limited environments. Karsten’s federally and foundation-supported global health research aims to improve access to quality care for disadvantaged populations worldwide by addressing intersectional stigma and other barriers to prevention and care via multi-level behavioral and pharmacological interventions for people with addictions, HIV, TB and other conditions.
Director of Global Health, Section of General Internal Medicine, Department of Medicine, Boston Medical Center
Co-Director, Providence/Boston Center for AIDS Research (CFAR) Substance Use Research Core
Access to quality care for disadvantaged people
Stigma, HIV prevention and care in key populations
Behavioral interventions in humanitarian settings
Implementation Science
Global maternal and newborn health
Other Positions
- Faculty, Clinical Addiction Research and Education Unit, Medicine, Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine
Websites
Education
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, MD
- Boston University School of Public Health, DPH/DrPH
- Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin, DM
- Harvard School of Public Health, MPH
Publications
- Published on 2/13/2025
Salnikova A, Makarenko O, Sereda Y, Kiriazova T, Lunze K, DeHovitz J, Ompad DC. Depression among people living with tuberculosis and tuberculosis/HIV coinfection in Ukraine: a cross-sectional study. Glob Health Action. 2025 Dec; 18(1):2448894. PMID: 39943845.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 11/7/2024
Lunze K, Carroll JJ, Ahuja N, Lira MC, Tsui JI, Ventura A, Colasanti JA, Liebschutz JM, Del Rio C, Samet JH. Opioid risk-reduction strategies for people with HIV on chronic opioid therapy: A qualitative study of patient perspectives. SSM Ment Health. 2024 Dec; 6. PMID: 39990723.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 10/17/2024
Nadareishvili I, Rao SR, Otiashvili D, Gnatienko N, Samet JH, Lunze K, Kirtadze I. Post-legalization shifts in cannabis use among young adults in Georgia-A nationally representative study. Addiction. 2025 Feb; 120(2):335-346. PMID: 39417804.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/9/2024
Rossi SL, Young K, Wade P, Khan SM, Lunze K. Women's Perceived HIV Stigma and Testing in Stann Creek District, Belize: A Population-Representing, Mixed-Methods Study. Am J Trop Med Hyg. 2024 Sep 04; 111(3):589-597. PMID: 38981505.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 7/1/2024
Davis A, Rosenthal SL, Tucker JD, Balabekova O, Nyblade L, Sun Y, Gryazev D, Lunze K, Landers SE, Tang W, Kuskulov A, Gulyayev V, Terlikbayeva A, Primbetova S, Mergenova G. A citizen science approach to develop a digital intervention to reduce HIV stigma and promote HIV self-testing among adolescents and young adults: a mixed methods analysis from Kazakhstan. J Int AIDS Soc. 2024 Jul; 27 Suppl 3(Suppl 3):e26314. PMID: 39030847.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 6/18/2024
Pinkhover A, Celata K, Baker T, Chatterjee A, Lunze K. Mobile addiction treatment and harm reduction services as tools to address health inequities: a community case study of the Brockton Neighborhood Health Center mobile unit. Front Public Health. 2024; 12:1407522. PMID: 38957203.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 5/6/2024
Spata A, Gupta I, Lear MK, Lunze K, Luoma JB. Substance use stigma: A systematic review of measures and their psychometric properties. Drug Alcohol Depend Rep. 2024 Jun; 11:100237. PMID: 38779475.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 4/24/2024
Idrisov B, Van Draanen J, Lodi S, Lunze K, Kimmel SD, Quinn EK, Truong V, Blokhina E, Gnatienko N, Krupitsky E, Samet JH, Williams EC. Socioeconomic Status and CD4 Count Among People with HIV Who Inject Drugs in St. Petersburg, Russia. AIDS Behav. 2024 Jul; 28(7):2239-2246. PMID: 38658481.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 3/12/2024
Davis A, Knudsen HK, Walker DM, Chassler D, Lunze K, Westgate PM, Oga E, Rodriguez S, Tan S, Holloway J, Walsh SL, Oser CB, Lefebvre RC, Fanucchi LC, Glasgow L, McAlearney AS, Surratt HL, Konstan MW, Huang TT, LeBaron P, Nakayima J, Stein MD, Rudorf M, Nouvong M, Kinnard EN, El-Bassel N, Tilley J, Macoubray A, Savitzky C, Farmer A, Beers D, Salsberry P, Huerta TR. Effects of the Communities that Heal (CTH) intervention on perceived opioid-related community stigma in the HEALing Communities Study: results of a multi-site, community-level, cluster-randomized trial. Lancet Reg Health Am. 2024 Apr; 32:100710. PMID: 38510790.
Read at: PubMed - Published on 2/1/2024
Rosen S, Blokhina E, Truong V, Bereznicka A, Gnatienko N, Quinn E, Lioznov D, Krupitsky E, Michals A, Lunze K, Samet JH. Comparative costs and potential affordability of a multifaceted intervention to improve treatment outcomes among people with HIV who inject drugs in Russia: economic evaluation of the LINC-II randomized controlled trial. J Int AIDS Soc. 2024 Feb; 27(2):e26208. PMID: 38403887.
Read at: PubMed
View 86 more publications: View full profile at BUMC